White Papers

Resources

BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks™

The industry's first and only independent benchmarks for digital signal processing

June 7, 2012BDTI has released an updated version of the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks suite. Version 2012 comes in response to changes in digital signal processing algorithms and the processors used to implement them. In Version 2012, BDTI has modified both the benchmarks themselves and the methodology used to implement them. The new suite will enable apples-to-apples comparison of an increased range of processing devices targeting DSP-centric applications.

Current and prospective licensees may contact BDTI via the web or call Jeremy Giddings at +1 (925) 954-1411 for details.

Overview

The BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks are the most widely used digital signal processing benchmarks in the world. Nearly every major vendor or buyer of processors for DSP uses this benchmark suite.

Why? Because they are the only vendor-independent suite of digital signal processing benchmarks. Each benchmark is carefully designed by BDTI’s team of DSP and benchmarking experts. These benchmarks are recognized industry-wide as trustworthy, reliable, and accurate. And because they are so widely used, BDTI provides a vast pool of benchmark data—giving you the context you need to evaluate a processor’s results.

The BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks are a suite of twelve DSP algorithm kernel benchmarks that represent the key building-block operations found in most signal processing applications. These benchmarks are relatively simple and are quick to simulate. The BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks measure only the performance of the processor core; they do not evaluate the effects of I/O, peripherals, or external memory. Therefore they are appropriate for both processor chips and licensable processor cores, and can be used to assess performance even when the I/O, peripherals, or external memory have not yet been defined.

The BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks are used to generate BDTI’s composite metrics, which include:

Why Use the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks

The BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks are essential for both processor vendors and processor users; each derives unique benefits from using BDTI’s benchmarks.

Benefits for Processor Vendors

If you're a processor vendor you need to convince your customers that your processor has the performance they’re looking for, so you’ll need to provide them with benchmark results. But customers are invariably skeptical of benchmark results from companies that are trying to sell them something. They have no way of knowing whether the results are real and accurate, and whether they are comparable to results from other vendors.

If you use the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks these problems disappear. Processor users recognize the integrity of BDTI’s benchmarks, and they are far more likely to believe your marketing pitch if you have independently certified results to back it up.

BDTI’s benchmarks evaluate all of the key performance metrics, including speed, energy efficiency, cost-performance, and memory use. And because BDTI has benchmarked dozens of processors with this suite, you’ll be able to present apples-to-apples performance comparisons to your competitors—and seal the deal.

Of course, BDTI’s benchmarks are useful for more than marketing; many vendors use the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks to evaluate and improve processor designs that are still in progress.

Benefits for End System and Product Designers

If you're an end product designer trying to select the right processor for your design, you know that choosing the best processor for your product is one of the most important design decisions you’ll make. If you get it wrong, your product may not work as well as you’d hoped—or it may not work at all.

To make a good decision, you’ll need benchmark results. But not just any results will do—you need to know that the results you’re using are trustworthy, unbiased, and accurate.

Most processor vendors provide results for their own processors, but there is no way to know whether those results are comparable to results from other vendors. Some vendors are more careful and fair than others, but few have the resources to create high-quality and technically sound benchmarks, and then implement them across a range of competitor processors.

BDTI has over a decade of experience in developing and implementing signal processing benchmarks, and we are recognized worldwide as the independent benchmarking experts. If you use our benchmark results you’ll be confident that you’re basing your decisions on unbiased performance data. Better yet, you can compare results for many different processors—from many different vendors—easily, quickly, and reliably.

Visit our BDTI Certified™ benchmark results pages to view and compare our composite metrics (e.g., the BDTImark2000™ and the BDTImemMark2000™) results for a variety of processors and cores. These metrics are based on processors’ performance on the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks. If you don’t see results for the chips you need, contact the chip vendor to let them know that you’d like to see BDTI benchmark results for their chips.